Conventional urinary drainage bags are commonly strapped to a patient""s leg above the knee, as disclosed in Barto U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,785, so that urine will flow into the bag under the influence of gravity. For an ambulatory patient, such an arrangement is often inconvenient and uncomfortable because, as such a bag becomes filled with urine, there is a tendency for it to slide downwardly along the leg unless additional means are provided on the bag to restrain such sliding movement. Also, such leg bags may be conspicuous through clothing as the bags become filled and may be awkward to drain.
Cawood U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,971 discloses that gravity flow is not essential for purposes of filling a urine collection bag. Intrinsic bladder detrusor muscle tone and intraperitoneal pressures exerted upon the bladder of a catheterized ambulatory patient will cause urine to flow from the bladder to a level as high as 10 centimeters or more above the distal tip of the catheter. A highly effective urinary drainage system may therefore be provided for an ambulatory patient in which the collection bag is carried by a waistband or belt and is worn over the patient""s abdomen instead of on the leg.
The bag disclosed in the Cawood patent has a short valve-equipped drain tube that extends downwardly from the bag when the contents are to be drained and that may be folded upwardly and inserted into a pocket provided by the bag when the drain tube is not in use. While such a drain tube may work satisfactorily for an ambulatory patient who is capable of standing with a urine collection bag positioned above a toilet bowl, and then manipulating the drain valve so that the contents of the bag may flow by gravity into the bowl, such a procedure may be difficult if not impossible for patients who are confined to wheelchairs. Such a patient must either try to standxe2x80x94a maneuver that may involve considerable riskxe2x80x94or must unbuckle the waist strap so that the bag may be held over the toilet bowl and drained.
A main aspect of this invention therefore lies in providing a urine collection bag of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,971 with an extendable and retractable drainage tube that allows the contents of such a bag to be drained into a toilet bowl even by a patient confined to a wheelchair and without first requiring removal of the bag by the patient. Specifically, the improvement takes the form of an elongated flexible plastic drainage tube that is in the shape of a flat coil, preferably of oval outline, and is either permanently connected, or detachably connectable, to the drainage port of the urine collection bag, which may be a valved port. The drain tube is permanently attached to the bag drainage port, or in another embodiment, may be detachably joined to a valve provided at that drainage port, depending on the patient""s particular needs. For example, wheelchair-bound and otherwise disabled or paralyzed patients may prefer the convenience of having an extension tube permanently connected to their collection bag. However, more ambulatory patients may have only occasional need for an extension tube, such as for night use only, and would prefer a detachable model so as not to have to carry the extra weight and bulk of the drainage tube.
The tube is of soft, flexible thermoplastic material and is thermoformed so that it is biased to assume its flattened coiled shape in the absence of forces applied to extend it. In its coiled condition, the drain tube lies flat against the front wall of the pouch and is held in that position by a retention strap which traverses the front wall of the pouch.
Another advantage of the present construction is that it facilitates use by patients with high urine volume output at night. The elongated drainage tube may be uncoiled and directed into a bedside receptacle, thus allowing a patient to wear an abdominal bag throughout the night without the risks of contamination that might arise if the abdominal bag had to be removed and replaced by other drainage means for nighttime use. In earlier standard practice, a bedside bag would be used at night, and replaced with a leg bag during the day, which exposes the system to non-native bacteria (i.e., bacteria that are not the patient""s own), risking clinical infection. Similarly, the elongated drain tube allows a patient to wear an abdominal bag even while undergoing a surgical operation, since urine draining from the bag allows urine output to be monitored by an anesthesiologist. Upon completion of the operation, the drain tube may be disconnected from the bedside receptacle, allowed to return to its coiled condition, and replaced under the retaining strap of the abdominal bag, thus restoring the abdominal bag to its original condition for inpatient or outpatient use.
The drain tube is provided at its distal end with a valve to control drainage. By having the valve located at the distal end of the drain tube, the patient is assured that, when the valve is closed, there will be no spillage of any residual droplets of urine left in the drain tube upon recoiling the tube to its original condition.
Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the specification and drawings.